• Cal State Bakersfield Interim AD Sarah Tuohy says she would “love to continue in a permanent role” as the Roadrunners are searching for a new leader. More from Tuohy: “I know that we’ve lost trust with the community, and we haven’t been a pride point for people who want to come and cheer. And we know that, and we acknowledge that. But what I would say is: Give us a chance. A lot has changed. A lot of people are no longer here. A lot of new people are here, a lot of new ideas. Come out to a game. Give us one chance and I guarantee it’s going to feel different. Our coaches are different. We’ve got a lot more Bakersfield flavor on our staff than we ever have before. It feels a lot like I think it did back when we were winning championships and raising banners. So give us a chance. We will make you proud of CSUB once again.” (link) 
• The Big West announces a strategic expansion of its Olympic sport membership, starting in 2027-28. As part of the enlarged membership structure, the conference will welcome Air Force in men’s water polo; Fresno State and San Diego State in women’s water polo; Grand Canyon in beach volleyball; and San José State in beach volleyball and men’s and women’s water polo. UCSB will continue with the league in men’s volleyball and men’s and women’s track & field; Hawai‘i will remain in women’s water polo, beach volleyball and men’s volleyball; and UC San Diego will stay on in men’s and women’s track & field, men’s volleyball and women’s water polo. In total, The Big West will have 10 full member institutions in 2027-28, with eight additional institutions competing in at least one of the conference’s 19 sponsored sports. (link)  
• The U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 on Tuesday to uphold state laws banning transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports, ruling against transgender students Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox, who had challenged restrictive laws in West Virginia and Idaho, respectively. Per NBC News’ Lawrence Hurley, Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored an opinion concluding that the laws do not violate either the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which requires that the law apply evenly to everyone, or Title IX, barring sex discrimination in education. Kavanaugh did express sympathy for transgender girls and women who desire to play sports, saying “their desire to compete warrants respect” and that they should not be “ostracized or vilified.” While the ruling directly concerns just West Virginia and Idaho, it’s likely to affect 25 other states with similar bans. (link)    
• During last month’s DI Membership Committee meeting, the group pressed pause on its charge to explore creating a new autonomy subdivision. “The committee will continue to monitor the operation of the new Division I governance structure, changes to rules and processes, and the Division I membership’s interest in an autonomy subdivision and defining autonomy status such that criteria are established.” (link) 
• CBS’ Jon Rothstein reports the Pac-12 will play its Men’s Basketball postseason tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas starting in 2027 as part of a two-year deal. Format wise, “The top two seeds will receive double byes to the semifinals of the event. The third and fourth seeds will receive a bye to the quarterfinals.” (link) 
• The Congressional clock on a truncated election year floor calendar continues to tick as Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) say it’s time to bring House Republicans and Democrats into discussions about the Protect College Sports Act. Cantwell said the push to advance the bill included “three corners,” referring to senators, White House officials and college athletics stakeholders. “The chairman’s goal is for [President Donald] Trump to sign the measure into law before the autumn academic semester and sports season begins.” Both Cruz and Cantwell acknowledged additional changes could be required to secure the necessary votes in both chambers, however, both said major revisions were unlikely. Cantwell said her exchanges about the measure revealed colleagues with their proverbial political fingers in the air, trying to determine how to vote as November’s midterm elections approach – as well as politics playing out among university leadership. More. (link)  
• Officials from the SEC and Big Ten conducted a call today with Senate staff members about a list of 10 legislative recommendations to the Protect College Sports Act. Per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, many of the suggestions are intended to strengthen the antitrust protection to prevent more lawsuits and “provide long-term stability.” One of the recommendations, titled “Make NIL Transparent,” suggests creating a database housing all school athlete compensation spending with that data being accessible to share between institutions. The leagues want the legislation to apply immediately to existing lawsuits, such as pending eligibility cases, and they want to change the anti-expansion provision to eliminate the possibility of a third party poaching members to create a super league. Negotiations are expected to continue.” Full list of recommendations. (link, link) 
• U.S. Representatives Greg Steube (R-FL) and Brendan Boyle (D-PA) have introduced the HUSTLE Act to establish tax-advantaged investment accounts for college athletes managing NIL compensation. The legislation, spearheaded in the Senate by Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), would allow athletes to exclude qualified NIL earnings from their taxable income up to the annual gift-tax limit. Participants can withdraw funds penalty-free for medical, educational, or career transition expenses, or roll up to $35K in unused funds into an IRA one year after exiting college sports. The U.S. Department of the Treasury will oversee the regulatory framework. Administrators from the NCAA, the SEC, Florida State, and Florida endorsed the bill to address a 2022 survey revealing that 49% of athletes require specialized financial literacy resources, yet only 9% utilize financial counselors. (link); Full bill. (link) 
• Ohio State AD Ross Bjork believes the Buckeyes will be the first college athletics program to have a $500M budget, telling The Athletic’s Cameron Teague Robinson: “It’s going to happen. It could happen three years from now, two years from now, five years from now, but we will have a $500M athletic budget at some point in time very soon. We have that capability.” More from Bjork… (link) (link, link)  
• After spending $63.5M on legal fees during the fiscal year concluding August 2025, the NCAA’s legal bill for outside counsel over the past five years sits at $292.6M, according to Sportico’s Daniel Libit, who notes the largest beneficiaries were firms Wilkinson Stekloff, which received nearly $19.6M in FY25, and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner ($7.3M). Beyond attorney fees, the association also incurred substantial litigation costs via $372.3M in FY25 legal resolutions. Combined with the House settlement, that means the NCAA spent more than $3B in legal settlement costs over the past two fiscal cycles. More. (link)  
• SBJ publisher Abe Madkour evaluated NCAA President Charlie Baker's leadership approach and administrative milestones as Baker surpasses 40 months leading the organization. Industry insiders credit Baker with executing tangible business advancements despite the association's damaged public brand, highlighted by his successful efforts to shrink committee bloat, expand the basketball tournaments, open new sponsorship categories, and drive overall NCAA revenue growth by more than $300M. Here’s more… 
  • Baker on the foundational philosophy that guides his daily interactions with conference commissioners, coaches, and athletic directors: "The most important thing good leaders do is they never stop listening and learning. Because the minute you start to think everything is great and you stop paying attention to the cues and to the people around you and to the people on your team and the folks in your organization, bad things happen."  
  • Transfer portal thoughts: “I have talked to so many kids and so many coaches who tell me really terrible stories about the misrepresentations that are made to young people about ‘what they’re worth’ and when they’re made to them. … I talked to a basketball coach a couple of weeks ago who told me about a player on his team who was three years in, one more year to get a degree, at a really high quality school. That degree would be worth a lot of money. And he had somebody pinging him saying, ‘There are better opportunities for you. You should go in the portal.’ The kid said, ‘I like where I am. I’m going to stay. The degree’s worth a lot to me.’ The agent went to his parents and his parents started talking to him, and eventually the kid decided to go in the portal. Two weeks later, he came back to the coach and he said, ‘Can I come back? There’s nothing out here I want.’ And his coach said, ‘I already spent the money on somebody else.’ The kid cried, literally, in the coach’s office, and then had to go somewhere else. He is a good kid. I’m sure he’ll be fine. But he’s not going to get a degree from the institution that he put three years’ worth of sweat equity into academically.”  
  • Sport sponsorship trends: “I’d like to see them all grow. But I will say that there were 520K students playing college sports when I got this job in 2023. Today, 555K are playing college sports. People talk a lot about the sports that go away, but they don’t talk about how many more are getting the sports experience.” (link, link) 

   IN CLOSING   

As we begin a new academic year, I want to thank each of our presidents, chancellors, athletics directors, coaches, administrators, student-athletes and conference staff for everything you do to strengthen The Big West. The opportunities before us have never been greater, and I look forward to building upon the momentum of this remarkable week together. 

I hope you had a safe and enjoyable Independence Day weekend. Thank you for everything you do for your institutions, your student-athletes and The Big West family. I look forward to seeing many of you in the weeks ahead as we begin another exciting year together. 

   QUOTE TO REFLECT ON THE 250TH   

"Our history is not a story of perfection. It's a story of imperfect people working toward great ideals. This flawed nation is also a really good nation, and the principles we hold are the hope of all mankind" – Credited to George W. Bush 

Dan